Becoming Family
by readinggirl1989
Summary: Monroe and Nick with the kids (not a sequel to Once Upon a Time)


Becoming Family

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Synopsis: Monroe and Nick with the kids (completely separate from my previous kid fic)

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_Monroe's POV_

Monroe dropped the gear on the table on the table as the sudden knocking on the door startled him. Taking off the glasses, he put them down next to the partially assemble clock. Making his way over to the door, he wondered who it was. Nick hadn't called and the neighbors had avoided him like the plague ever since the cops searched the place. Admittedly they hadn't interacted much before that but still, nowadays there was an icy tinge to the covert glances, as though they expected Monroe to attack them or their children or something else equally crazy. Shrugging it off, Monroe opened the door.

It was the reinigen, Roddy, shifting his feet awkwardly with a bag in hand. When the kid looked up Monroe saw the black eye. Reaching out a hand, Monroe grabbed the kid and pulled him inside, noting but ignoring the flinch from his sudden movement. "You okay kid? What happened?" Monroe asked, dragging the boy into the kitchen. He related his hold, gathering together some ice in a towel before handing it to Roddy as he directed the kid to sit at the table.

"My dad's been kind of drunk and angry since I got kicked out of school. I was hoping I could crash on your couch for a couple days till I figure something else out?" Roddy asked, looking at he floor.

"Sure, sure. I told you to come to me if you needed anything. I meant it. Now, are you hurt anywhere else? Do we need to go to the hospital?" Monroe asked, looking the kid over for any sign of hidden injuries.

Roddy's gaze snapped up to Monroe's face, "No. He's never hit me before. This" he said, waving the ice pack, "is the first and last time. I'm not an idiot, if I stayed it'd get worse so I left."

"Cool it kid. I'm not insulting you. Just concerned. Keep that thing on your face where it'll do some good. I'm gonna call Nick, then I'll make dinner. No, don't argue with me. I don't want to get accused of kidnapping again." Monroe finished sternly, causing Roddy's mouth to snap shut, objection stifled.

Monroe watched as his words registered. Roddy's eye lit with curiosity, "Kidnapping?" Monroe sighed, already dialing Nick's number, "Long story kid."

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_Nick's POV_

Nick looked down as the phone in his hand buzzed, Monroe. Sometimes it seemed like the man was psychic. "Hey Monroe. I was just about to call you." Nick answered, glancing in the rear-view mirror at the girl in the backseat. "Yeah, I'm actually headed over to your place now. I'm on the other side of town though so it'll probably be 20, 30 minutes...OK. See you soon."Nick turned his head slightly, "We'll see Monroe soon Holly. He's making dinner so that'll be good. Monroe's a great cook. And we'll get everything sorted out. Okay?"

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Nick held Holly's hand, leading her into Monroe's house, "Monroe! We're here!" he announced, setting the girl's bag by the door. Nick headed towards the kitchen, pausing when Holly stopped moving. Looking back questioningly, Nick saw Holly sniffing the air before wolfing out and snarling. Meanwhile, Monroe yelled out, "Who's we?" Nick moved in front of her, blocking her path, "Monroe!" he yelled, asking for help. But Monroe was already there, "Woah! Holly! Hey there. Calm down. No need for that. We're all friends here." Monroe said, reinforcing his alpha status by letting his red eyes flash through. Nick exhaled in relief as Holly backed down, meekly following Monroe into the kitchen.

Nick was surprised at the scene in front of him, _Roddy_ was pulling a casserole dish out of the oven. "Sorry Monroe. I know you wanted me to stay back but the timer was going off and you were a little busy. I hope that was okay." Roddy was explaining, looking cautiously at the girl behind Monroe.

"You did good kid. Roddy, this is Holly. Holly, Roddy. Go on, shake hands." Monroe said, pushing Holly closer to the boy. Nick watched in fascination as they were told, Monroe had an amazing way with kids. "Roddy, why don't you show Holly where the bathroom is so you two can wash up." Nick suggested, needing a moment alone with Monroe.

"Why is Roddy-"

"What is Holly doing-"

They started at the same time. Stopping, Nick indicated for Monroe to go first. "The kid's dad hit him. He said it was the first time but … the boy flinched when I moved near him. There could be more to his story. Or it could be the blutbad thing. I was hoping you could help him. Make sure he's not reported missing, or worse, kidnapped. Your turn. Holly. Explain." Nick nodded in agreement, of course he'd help Roddy. Though now he was worried Monroe wouldn't be able to help with Holly, "Holly's having some trouble adjusting. She's been hunting the neighborhood animals and it's freaking out her mom. I told her to call me if she needed anything back when I first returned her daughter, and well, she can't handle her. Holly's speech is better and she's not attacking anyone but she's still fairly wild. I don't want to dump her in the system, that could turn bad real fast. So, I was thinking you could take her in? She bonded with you but with Roddy here, maybe you know someone else who could take her in?" their conversation was cut off as the kids returned.

Settling everyone at the table, Nick helped Monroe dish up the food. "Thanks." Roddy said when Nick put his plate in front of him before shoveling food into his mouth like a starving man, or a growing teenager. Sitting down with his own plate, Nick watched Monroe do the same for Holly and himself. "Thank you Papa." she said, beaming, clearly happy that she knew the correct social niceties. Monroe choked on his food. Nick moved to help him but Monroe shook him off, clearing his throat, "Uh, you're welcome Holly." Nick smiled, Monroe wouldn't be able to turn her down now, he'd been adopted. Roddy looked back and forth between the two blutbaden, innocently remarking, "I didn't know you had a daughter." Nick burst out laughing at the look on Monroe's face, the poor man had no answer for that statement.

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_Monroe's POV_

With everyone helping, clean up went quickly and surprisingly smoothly. Distracting the kids with his meager movie collection, Monroe dragged Nick upstairs. "If they're staying you have to help me clean out the spare room. Tonight. Roddy's already relegated to the couch. Holly's going to need someplace to sleep." Monroe stated, leaving no room for negotiation. Monroe hid his smirk at Nick's easy capitulation, he had no idea what he was agreeing to. Opening the door, Monroe let Nick see inside. The room was filled with boxes; they were piled everywhere, on the single twin bed and along the walls. "Man, Monroe. How do you have so much stuff?" Nick asked in horrified awe. As they moved in among the clutter, trying to see the best way to start, Nick suggested an easier way, "How about we move the boxes on and around the bed over to your room? We can stack'em in there until we have more time to go through everything. The bed's really the only thing that needs to be free and Holly shouldn't mind the mess." Thinking about it, it did make sense, "Yeah alright. Be careful though, some of this stuff is really fragile. And irreplaceable, everything's been handed down through the generations." Monroe explained, only slightly worried about Nick's handling of his possessions. Hey worked quickly after that, Nick needed to get home.

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Later that night after getting everyone situated in their beds, Monroe collapsed into his own bed. Inhaling deeply, Monroe was surprised to smell Nick on his pillow. The scent sent a pulse straight to his groin. Monroe laid there, rock hard and no longer tired, wondering when that connection had started. And how had Nick's scent gotten on his bed? It had been Nick's first time upstairs, maybe he sat on the bed to rest for a minute when o was out of the room? Monroe thought before deciding that it didn't matter, he just needed to do something about his 'condition' so he could get some sleep. Listening intently, he decided that the kids were asleep, it was safe.

Standing up, Monroe grabbed a box of tissues and threw it on the bed. Stripping off his clothes, he laid back against the headboard and conjured up an image of the woman who sold him fresh fruit in the next town over. Janine'd been flirting with him pretty heavily the past few visits but no matter how attractive she was, human and Wesen did not go together. Monroe imagined her pulling him into a back room. 'Slowly unbuttoning her top she asked him for sex, just a quickie, no one had to know, she begged,' Monroe wrapped a fist around his cock, pumping slowly as he set the scene. 'Moving forward, Monroe grabbed her, pulling her close. Breasts spilling out onto his chest, Monroe kissed her hungrily.' he moved his hand faster, twisting a bit everytime he reached the head, 'Moving a hand down her body, Monroe dipped into her panties and found a dick. Pulling back, instead of Janine, he was facing Nick. Unable to help himself, he kissed him'. Panting, Monroe came, whispering, "Nick." Looking down at the mess he'd made, Monroe mopped up as best he could with the tissues ,knowing he'd have to get up early and do laundry. Didn't want the kids asking awkward questions, Monroe thought as he drifted off to sleep surrounded by Nick's scent.

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_Nick's POV_

"M'n'r'e." Nick grunted out, slamming into Juliette from behind. She whipped her head around, "What did you just say?" she asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Nick stilled as he thought for a moment, he'd said Monroe. Why he didn't know, there'd been no conscious thought involved. Answering quickly, Nick said, "I think it was something like mmmph. I don't know, it was in the moment. Why?" Nick watched as her eyes relented slightly, "Never mind." Juliette said, turning back around. Nick started moving again, careful not to say anything else. Afterwards, Nick cuddled Juliette close as he wondered what was happening to him. Sure, he'd been spending more time with the man lately. Maybe even all of his free time and some of his work hours, but that didn't mean anything. Although, there was that incident at Monroe's house. He was glad no one had caught him hugging a pillow, that would have been hard to explain. What could he have said, 'Sorry Monroe. I just had an inexplicable desire to smell you.' Yeah, that would have gone over well. Taking that into account, along with what had just happened, it was clear. He had a crush on Monroe. Shit.

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Pulling up in front of Monroe's house, Nick shot off a quick text to Hank, 'Gonna be a bit late.' Heading up the walk, Nick found he was grinning happily. He tried to minimize the smile but he couldn't do anything, his face wanted to grin.

Letting himself into the house, Nick found Roddy still conked out on the couch. Tip-toeing past him, Nick peeked into the kitchen and was glad to find both Monroe and Holly eating breakfast, "Good morning Monroe, Holly. You up for a trip to the station?" Nick asked, grabbing his cup and pouring himself some coffee. "Why?" Monroe asked simply, clearly conveying his preference for staying home. Nick frowned, "Roddy needs to file a report. He said he doesn't want to press charges and he doesn't have to but if it's on record that he had valid cause to leave his father and stay with you then there can't be any kidnapping charges brought against you. That should make you happy." Nick finished with a grin. Getting serious again, Nick jerked his head towards Holly's back, "Do I need to find a new place for … ?" Monroe let out a sigh, shaking his head, "No. How do I let you talk me into these things? But you owe me at least four for this alone. Understood?" Only four, for the care and raising of a teenage girl. Nick understood just fine, Monroe already loved her, "Got it. Let's get going. I'll wake Roddy, you two finish up." Walking briskly down the hall, Nick made no effort to keep quiet. He didn't want to scare the boy and if he was as jumpy as Monroe thought, shaking him awake seemed like a bad idea. "Up and at'em Rod. You're wasting the day away. I need you up and ready to go in about ten minutes. Okay?" Nick said as he saw a mop of bed-tousled hair pop up on the couch.

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_Hank's POV_

Hank looked down at his phone, an update from Nick, 'On my way. Be there soon.' good, that guy had been disappearing more and more lately. "Excuse me. Oh, hello Detective Griffin. I was looking for either Detective Burkhardt or his partner, wears plaid and has a beard? I'm sorry I don't know his name but Holly can't stop talking about him." Mrs. Clark said, "Sergeant Wu said I would find him over here." Hank grabbed a chair, dragging it over. "I'm Nick's partner. He had to run out right quick but he's on his way back now if you'd like to wait." he said, offering the seat and ignoring the surprise on her face. Curiosity ate away at him as the minutes passed, "Was there anything I could do for you? How's Holly? She adjusting okay?" Hank looked around frantically for tissues as she burst into tears, "No. nothing's okay. I love that girl but I can't deal with her anymore. She needs more help than I can give. The things she's done … " Mrs. Clark said between sobs. She continued crying quietly as Hank tore apart his desk, there had to be tissues somewhere.

A handkerchief dangled in front of his face, looking up he found the weird clock guy offering him rescue. Snatching the cloth with a muttered, "Thanks." Hank handed it to the woman who, thankfully, had stopped crying. He watched as she dabbed at her eyes and nose, leery of any remaining waterworks. After finishing, she tried to hand it back to him but before he could even decide if he wanted to touch the thing, a voice interrupted, "Keep it. I've got plenty more at home." Mrs. Clark smiled gratefully with just a tinge of embarrassment, "Thank you … " she trailed off waiting for a name. "Monroe. You must be Holly's mom." the man said, holding out his hand. As the two shook hands, Hank spoke up, "Nick's not here just yet Mr. Monroe. I could take a message if you want. I'll let him know you stopped by." he said, dismissing the man. If the smirk was anything to go on, the guy knew Hank wanted him to leave and didn't care. "Not necessary Detective Griffen. We came in together. He's just speaking with Sergeant Wu. He'll be over shortly." Monroe said just as a blur of a girl ran into his back. "Uncle Nick said I needed to come to you. I'm supposed to rescue you Papa! Do I need to kill him?" she whispered, Hank could barely hear her. Papa? Monroe didn't have any kids. Wait, did she just offer to kill him? What kind of wacko was this guy? Teaching a kid to kill people! Hank's thoughts raced like lightening, he was just reaching for his gun when Monroe shouted, "No!" The guy turned around, revealing Holly, "What did I tell you? We don't kill people. Self-defense only, okay?" Holly nodded, face pinched, looking for all the world as though she was trying to commit a fact to memory, "Yes Papa." Hank stopped going for his gun, pleasantly surprised at Monroe's response. A grin spread across the girl's face, "Hi Momma. This is Papa. I live with him now, okay?" Mrs. Clark nodded, "I know. It's okay. I'll still see though, sometimes, sweetheart, alright?" Holly shrugged, "Okay."

Hank wondered what exactly had gone on in those woods to have such a sweet little girl turn out like this, but he probably didn't want to know. What he did want to know was, what was going on? Uncle Nick? The man had barely had any contact with her. Although, he was the one to find her. Maybe that was it? A low growl interrupted his thoughts.

Expecting to find a dog or something, Hank was surprised to discover the sound was coming form Holly. Nick was making his way over, and he had a kid with him that looked kind of familiar. "Holly! Be nice to your brother." Monroe said firmly, successfully quieting the girl. Another kid? Dammit. Hank had been sure the guy was childless. They'd checked into this when he was under investigation for kidnapping. Had he misremembered? The kid squeaked fearfully as Holly hugged him, "What's happening?" he asked, eyes frantically shifting from Monroe to Nick, back and forth as looked for help. "Calm down Roddy. She's not attacking you, it's just a hug." Nick explained with a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder. "Papa said, 'Be nice to your brother.' Hugging is nice." Holly said, as she released the kid. "Brother?" Roddy said questioningly, looking at Monroe. "You're staying with me kid. Your father's not getting his hands on you again. I promise." said Monroe. Hank noticed for the first time that the kid, Roddy, had a black eye. It looked to be healing nicely at least. As Roddy launched himself at the man, hugging him, Hank decided he was going to have to re-evaluate his opinion of Monroe. He couldn't be too bad if he was willing to take in two broken teenagers. "Come on guys. Let's sit down and get all the paperwork sorted out." Nick said, plopping down at his desk. Going back to his own work, Hank glanced over from time to time trying to figure out just what about the scene was nagging at him.

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_Nick's POV_

a couple weeks later...

"Hey man. Are you cheating on Juliette?" Hank asked out of nowhere, disturbing the silence of the ride back to the station. Nick choked on his coffee, couching, he answered, "No! Where did that come from?" Nick glanced over, feeling pointlessly guilty, when Hank didn't reply immediately. His face was drawn, "Juliette's called me a couple times now looking for you. Apparently you've been working a lot of late nights. Which is odd since you've been leaving fairly early most days. So which one of us are you lying to?" Nick slammed a hand against the steering wheel, "Neither! I've been helping Monroe get the kids settled in. Cleaning out space in the attic and the spare room so that Holly isn't surrounded by boxes and Roddy can sleep in a real bed instead of on the couch. Alright?!" Nick threw an apologetic over at Hank for shouting. "Why didn't you just tell us what was going on Nick? I bet Juliette would've loved to help you." Hank said, staring accusingly. "Well, I know you don't like him. As for Juliette, it's a bit awkward to explain helping a man I once accused of stealing a child." There was a moment of tension before Hank nodded in agreement, allowing Nick to relax, previously unaware that he'd been so tense during the conversation. They moved on to inane chatter about the case they'd just wrapped up.

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As Nick laid in bed later that night he thought back to Hank's accusation. Was he cheating on Juliette? Not physically, no. but emotionally? Was he emotionally cheating? He had been fantasizing about Monroe more and more often. And he'd been over at his house pretty much every night for dinner with the family. Crap. He _was _cheating. That was something he'd never wanted to do. That sealed it, he was going to have to break up with Juliette. It wasn't fair to her, what he was doing. Sighing, he rolled away from her, it looked like it was a night on the couch for him. Nick headed downstairs unaware of Juliette's open eyes and silent tears.

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_Juliette's POV_

Juliette tugged down on her shirt, she wanted to be as presentable as possible for the confrontation that was sure to arise once she made it down the stairs. As expected, Nick was sitting on the couch, just waiting for her. "Juliette-" she raised a hand, cutting him off. She needed coffee for this, she thought, grabbing a mug. Once she was sipping her hot coffee, Juliette made her way over to the seat near, but not next to, Nick, "Okay. Go." Nick paused for a moment, clearly gathering his thoughts, "Juliette. As much as I love you, I don't think I'm _in love_ with you anymore. I've developed feelings for someone else, and while I have NOT cheated, it isn't fair to you for me to pretend otherwise. If you can ever find it in yourself to forgive me, I would truly like to be friends. I'm not just saying that, I mean it. Now, don't worry. I took the day off, I'll have my stuff packed and out of here by the time you get home from work." Juliette just nodded as he patted her knee before heading upstairs. Standing, she went to the kitchen and washed out her cup. She was surprised at how little it hurt, maybe last night had been her grieving period and now she could just live her life. Noticing the time on the microwave, Juliette rushed out the door, she was going to be late for work.

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_Roddy's POV_

the night before...

"Roddy, why does Papa's scent change around Unlce Nick?" Holly asked, laying on the couch with her head in his lap. "I don't know, I haven't noticed anything Holls. Does it happen everytime?" Roddy asked, finger combing her hair. "Yes. Next time we see them together pay attention so you can explain it to me. Okay?" Holly demanded nicely. Roddy laughed silently, "Yeah, I'll do that. Now go back to watching the movie. You have a lot of catching up to do."

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A bright flash of light caused Roddy to tumble off the couch, dragging Holly down to the floor with him, "Wha?" he asked sleepily. Monroe was standing over them with a smile, camera in hand, "Come on kids. We have to go help Nick lug boxes." Roddy groaned and sat up. He looked over and saw that Holly had curled into a ball, still asleep. He'd have thought she'd be a lighter sleeper growing up a lone in the woods. Oh well, he reached over and shook her awake, "Get up. We're going to see Nick."

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When they got to the house, Roddy wasn't surprised to find that the boxes needing to be lugged were Nick's personal possessions. After all, if Juliette was that important to him, he'd have introduced her to the family.

Now, if he could just get the two of them closer together, he could sniff out what was troubling Holly. When they were finally finished loading boxes, Nick and Monroe sat next to each other on the steps. This was the perfect time, the sweat would enhance their scents. Grabbing the camera from the glove box, Roddy got close under the pretense of photographing the moment. Inhaling deeply as he pressed the shutter button, Roddy wodged in surprise. Their scents were mingling and merging. They were mates. Roddy had never heard of same sex mating, much less mating with a Grimm. Sure, there were some gay relationships in the community, but true mates? Roddy suddenly realized that the men had been trying to get his attention, "Did you guys know you're mates?" he blurted out. The twin looks of confusion and joy would have been hilarious if the moment weren't so serious. "You didn't notice?" Roddy asked. "Holly did, although she didn't understand what it meant. You know what, I'm going to go find her and explain all this. That'll give you two time to talk." he said, handing Monroe his camera and walking off.

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_Monroe's POV_

"So, mates? Does that mean what I think it means?" Nick asked, looking hopeful. "Yes." Monroe answered, "Although I didn't think it was possible. I mean, you're male _and _a Grimm. This is extremely unusual. But that doesn't make it any less true. I … uh … I love you Nick. I tried not to but you make it impossible." Monroe finished, looking into Nick's eyes. Monroe relaxed as Nick smiled, "I love you too Monroe. It's the reason I broke up with Juliette. I wanted _you_." His heart could just about explode, he was so happy. Leaning forward, Monroe captured Nick's mouth with his own, pressing their lips together hesitantly. Sparks flew and they moved with confidence and passion. An idea raced through Monroe's mind, lifting up his camera, he snapped a shot of their first kiss. Hopefully it would come out alright.

Noises of disgust broke them apart. The kids were standing in front of them, thoroughly grossed out. "Papa!" Holly whined, "Not in front of me. Kissing is yucky." Monroe laughed, "You just keep thinking that way Holly. At least until you're thirty. At some point I'm sure we'll want grand-kids. That goes for you too Roddy. We're too young, wait a few years alright?" Monroe ignored the tears that welled up the kid's eyes, he knew it would just embarrass him. Standing, Monroe reached down and took Nick's hand, "Let's go home."

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The End.

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Author's Note: I have an idea or two for a possible sequel that I might possibly write. Maybe.


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